Aers
by Topaz Fox
Summary: Nobody saw it. Beneath her placid eyes, or through his crazed demeanor, it seemed quite nonexistent. They were just playing, right? It didn't mean anything...did it?


(Hej! It's Topaz, back with another Axel story! Duuuude, I guess I like him, huh? The inspiration for this particular fic came when I was looking for more people to pair Axel with. I hope I won't have to resort to yaoi anytime soon...gulp.Yaoi's not exactly my strong point...but anyway, I ramble. Read, review, and enjoy! --Topaz Fox)

(**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything related to it.)

"No, no, please don't leave…not so soon…"

He only put a finger to her lips, silencing her, and started to get up. She sat their brooding and, when he was halfway to the door, she defied all aspects of her calm, cheerful character and threw herself at him.

She lurched forward and grabbed onto his stiff black cloak. Surprised at her boldness, he turned around, his bright, reluctant eyes burning holes into her heart. "Aers, you know I have to go now. I stayed too long. If they find out that I'm doing this, they'll…" He let his voice trail off into silence, hinting at an unspeakable punishment. She still didn't let go.

"Axel, don't leave me, please don't go…" Her voice had dropped down to a desperate murmur, pleading, and the low musty light of the room turned her earnest eyes into emerald torches, dancing with hues of inexplicable blue and gold. Axel sighed heavily and, as usual, he was unable to resist her. Her pulled her tight against him and put his head on hers, muttering into her glossy chocolate hair, "Aerith Gainsborough, why're you doing this? You know I can't stay here. And if I don't leave, we're never gonna see each other again. I _told _you that already."

The words stopped flowing from his lips as he felt wetness soak through his cloak to his chest. He grabbed Aerith by both shoulders and found that there were tears streaming down her face. She wasn't sobbing or hiccuping or anything; her face actually looked fairly calm, except for the tears that ran down her cheeks as if from a faucet.

Upon further examination, Axel found something in Aerith's eyes. There was a terrible sorrow residing there, wild and vast as a storm-blackened flood. And yet…all this fury looked empty, glowing with the innocent disappointment of a little girl.

He sighed roughly and sat cross-legged on the dirty floorboards. He patted his upper thigh, motioning for Aerith to sit on his lap. She obliged, curling up against him like a child, resting her head on his neck and putting both hands on his chest. Axel wrapped his long arms around her, securing her against him. "Okay," he said, his voice a little bit frayed by nervousness. He wasn't used to dealing with this sort of thing. "Tell me everything that's on your mind…or your heart, I guess."

The girl in Axel's lap took a deep breath. "I never used to feel like this. We were just…playing. Right?"

"I guess so."

"Yes. So I knew that I liked you in…that aspect. But then, as you came more and more frequently, I suppose we just got to know each other better. That was when I realized that you're everything Cloud's not."

Axel rubbed Aerith's back with his fingertips, feeling the ridge of her bra strap under her sheer pink caftan. "Cloud," he echoed. "That blond guy with the giant sword thing. Aren't you dating or engaged or something?"

"…Supposedly. But he's so…distant. I used to think that was part of his charm…but then I got tired of it. I always told him I loved him, and he never said anything back. I felt so horribly lonely…and then I met you.

"Axel, you're so sweet and brave, and you always speak your mind. And you have an…amazing sense of humor. You've never failed to make me laugh. You're everything that's lacking in Cloud. You're like his…anti-form." She smiled against his skin, and feeling her lips turn upward, Axel smiled, too. "You are perfect," whispered Aerith, her words coming out choked and broken. "And we can never really be together. Not ever."

She started to cry again, this time normally, complete with heaving that racked her body. She pressed her face into the scratchy black material of Axel's cloak. He held her calmly and started to feel his own mind slipping into a state that, supposedly, Nobodies could not possibly enter.

He felt himself falling in love.

Over her soft muffled sobs, he said, "Oh, Aers, I had no idea it would all get this complicated. I thought I was just messing around with some chick. Sure, she was a damn hot chick, but no harm done, right?" Aerith smiled trough her tears at Axel's teasing. "But," he continued, "I think that somewhere down the line, the damn hot chick turned into a smart, radiant, incredible woman. I still don't know how it happened, but it did. You're amazing, Aerith, and I can't really call this messing around anymore, because…

"I love you."

Axel took gentle hold of her chin and brought her face upward to face his. With a tender hand, he wiped the tears from her red and slightly puffy eyes. "Babe," he said, "you gotta be brave. There'll be times when you want to give up, but you can't. You hear me? You _can't. _Things'll get better. I know from experience." He offered her a boyish grin, and she accepted it with a smile.

Her expression faltered almost instantly. "So I guess this means you are leaving," she said mournfully.

"I have to. They'll…do something really bad to me if I don't. And then I won't ever be able to come back. But, this way, I'll see you again." He gave her a fast peck on the lips, more encouragement than passion, and got to his feet, pulling her up with him.

She seemed deflated, like she had lost a battle. When Axel got to the door, he laid one hand on the old-fashioned handle, but before he could leave, Aerith's voice came at him gently through the shadows. "Axel?"

As he turned around, he felt the air go out of his lungs. Aerith was standing there, her brunette locks messy and hanging unevenly around her face. A tiny crossbeam of dusty light shot out from a crack in the wall and ran diagonally over Aerith, illuminating one little thin line of her. The rest of her body and face remained in shadow, tinted mysterious colors, and her caftan floated around the hem and seemed to glow in the nearly nonexistent light, almost like a slight pink mist shrouding her lovely body. As he looked in her eyes, oddly pleasant and green like they were long ago, he realized that she looked exactly like an angel.

"Axel…I love you too."

This wasn't allowed, any of this, but it was all he wanted now. "Bye, Aers," he whispered, all smiles. She graced him with a slight wave of her delicate hand, and he rose his own hand in farewell. Slowly, he rose the cowl of his black cloak up over his head, covering his face and the mane of spiky crimson that was tamed to violet red in the darkness. He opened the door, but before he stepped through it, he said, "I'll be back. I promise."

And then he was gone, that crazy, beautiful shadow of a man, as if he had never been there to begin with.

-Fin-


End file.
